A purported video of Dalits being beaten with iron rods and sticks went viral on social media and triggered a Dalit fury.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Una thrashing incident shook the BJP's equation.

Gurjarat CM visited the site today and offered her condolences.

Daya Shankar Singh's comment on Mayawati triggered a political storm.

How at times, one incident is enough to blow your most carefully laid plan to smithereens. BJP must be learning it the hard way. When one cow protection vigilante thrashed four Dalits for skinning a dead cow at a village in Gir Somnath district, they had little idea that this one act of theirs will have alarm bells ringing within the ruling party.

A purported video of Dalits being beaten with iron rods and sticks went viral on social media and triggered a Dalit fury which forced the government on the back foot. Though the government acted swiftly and arrested those involved in relevant section but the damage was done. The images and video of the incident sparked a Dalit backlash, which the government was not prepared for. Within few days the mob took to the streets and set ablaze busses in Rajkot, and other towns in Saurashtra. In Surendranagar, a truckload of cow carcasses were dumped outside the collectors office. Ever since this agitation broke out, around 15 Dalits have attempted suicide.

Gurjarat CM Anandiben Patel visited the site today and offered her condolences. Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal are going to visit it in the next 48 hours. When the third day of the Monsoon Session began, in the upper house there was a fight between BSP supremo Mayawati and Congress over who is going to raise this issue first in the house. Mayawati accused both the BJP and Congress being party to this drama and said that despite the problems created by the ruling party, it was the BSP which raised this issue first. Home Minister Rajnath Singh denied these allegations and said that the party took immediate action. While Congress protest against this issue was somewhat marred by visuals of Rahul Gandhi taking "nap" in Lok Sabha when other party leaders were vociferously protesting on this issue. Such was the impact of this Dalit flogging in Gujarat and its potential ramification in the all important polls of Uttar Pradesh.

HOW DAMAGING THIS IS FOR THE BJP IN UTTAR PRADESH?

It's not as if this is the first case of excess of cow protection vigilantes. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and other states are replete with cases in which over suspicion of cattle smuggling, these vigilantes have taken law in their own hand. People accused of cow smuggling were mercilessly thrashed. In one horrifying case in Jharkhand, two Muslim traders were hanged to death over cattle smuggling. In most of the cases, the accused were arrested and send behind bars, but they didn't raise the political temperature of the government as it didn't rock their carefully woven caste calculus.

But, 11th July incident was different. The image of Dalits being beaten with belts disturbed the status quo for the BJP as it happened in Gujarat. In the last one and a half year, BJP under the leadership of PM Modi had launched a massive Dalit outreach program to co-opt the biggest Dalit icon, Dr. BR Ambedkar. As part of the programme, the NDA government celebrated Ambedkar's birthday as Samajik Samrasta Divas and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to the Dalit icon at his birthplace at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. Even, BJP president Amit Shah, took holy dip with Dalit Sadhus. BJP left no stone unturned to woo them, keeping in mind the all important Uttar Pradesh elections.

MAYAWATI IS WORSE THAN A SEX WORKER: BJP LEADER'S SHOCKER

But then came Una and it shook the equation which the BJP is so assiduously building. The party was able to put Rohit Vemula episode behind him but this seems to blowing up in their face. A senior BJP leader admitted that what is happening in Gujarat will have bearing in their equation with Dalits in UP as it has given Mayawati an excellent opportunity to take the battle to the BJP court. He said, "What is worrisome for us is that despite this incident taking place more than a week ago, we have not been successfully able to reach out to them. We may be prompt in action, but are losing the perception voice". He is not the only one. The fact that the Dalit outburst in various parts of Gujarat is still showing no signs of abatement. A Uttar Pradesh BJP leader said, "We were able to deal with Vemula issue but with every passing day, incident in Gujarat is turning out to be big headache for us. If we are not able to douse the fire quickly, we will have to pay electoral price for it".

While the NDA government was grappling with the Una crisis, ousted UP BJP vice president Daya Shankar Singh's comment on BSP supremo Mayawati triggered a massive political storm. Singh allegedly compared Mayawati to a sex worker. As soon as the statement came out in open, another Dalit bombshell hit the BJP. Party was clearly on defensive and dismissed Singh from his post, but the damage was done. The day belonged to Mayawati who tore into the BJP twice in a day, calling them anti-Dalit in their approach.

While Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel today visited Una, the party feels that apart from administrative action, a political outreach should have happened soothing the frayed nerves. If the situation is not dealt with immediately, a section of the party feels, that they have handed back the mojo of the BSP supremo Mayawati, back to her.